Bottle holder



Mamah @9450 E. L ARNESON BOTTLE HOLDER Filed Aug. 13, 1943 IPVVEINIZOR.Eda/m l. CZ/"F 3.51.77";

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Patented Mar. 27, 1945 BOTTLE HOLDER Edwin L. Arneson, Morris, 11,assignor to Morris Paper Mills, Chicago, 11]., a corporation of llllnoisApplication August 13, 1943, Serial No. 498,473

13 Claims. ('01. 229-52) This invention relates to improvements inhottle holders of the type designed for the packaging oi a plurality ofbottles of beverage or the like for convenience in handling andtransportation.

A general object of the invention is the provision of such a bottlecarrier which may be made of paper board or similar sheet material andsupplied to bottlers in a collapsed or knocked-down condition from whichit may be set up quickly and easily and without requiring specialapparatus or additional iastenings for so doing, and which comprisesmeans for latching or locking it in its set-up condition so that bottlesmay be readily inserted into it and may be removed when desired withoutinvolving any unfolding, dismantling or mutilation of the carrier.

A further object is the provision of a carrier of such constructionwhich is equipped with a handle formed integrally with the receptacle inwhich the bottles are carried and which handle may be formed of aplurality of plies of the sheet material, thereby to contribute to itsstrength. without requiring sheet material additional to that comprisedwithin the area of the normal rectangular circumscription of the carrierblank. Yet another object is the provision of such a carrier which,after having been set up and latched in that condition, may be againcollapsed to flattened form without involving any mutilation or injurysuch as to disqualify it for repeated use.

Other and further objects of the invention will be pointed out orindicated hereinafter, or will be apparent to one skilled in the artupon an understanding of it or use of it in practice.

For aiding in explanation of the invention I show in the-drawing forminga part of this speciflcation, and hereinafter described, certain formsin which the invention may be embodied. It is to be understood, however,that these are presented merely for purposes of illustration and arenotto be construed in any fashion for limiting the appended claims short ofthe true and most comthe art.

onto intermediate portions and certain of them secured by adhesive insuch infolded positions;

Fig. 3 is a view of the completed carrier in its flat. collapsedcondition, which is attained by a further fabricating operation in whichit has been folded on itself and certain parts fastened to a which is asfollows:

For providing a bottle carrier designed for the packaging and carryingof four bottles or similar articles, a blank of the form illustrated inFig. 1 is made, by conventional cutting and creasing operations, frompaper board or similar sheet material having the necessary strength andstiff ness. It will be observed that this blank lies entirely within anarea of regular rectangular form and it is cut and creased to provide abottom comprising identical sections l0 conjoined at a medial creaseline a, said bottom having at each end an end flap H which is bisectedby a crease line formed in prolongation of the line a. These end flapsmay be bent to upstanding position with respect to the bottom alongcrease lines D. Crease lines o define the side marginal limits of thebottom and the lower marginal limits of identical side panel portions l2and it which carry lateral flaps ll flexible to angular relationship tothe portions l2 and H along lateral crease lines (1. These lateral flapsare marked off by oblique crease lines e into end wall sections I6 andtuck sections ll. Beyond the upper ends of the side panels, which endsare defined by crease lines I, are formed handle flaps which comprisemedial sections I8 and lateral sections I9 which are conjoined alongcrease lines a on which the lateral sections may be folded inwardly ontoadjacent surface portions of the medial sections. These handle sectionsare pierced by handle openings 20 and! l, the sheet material within theopening 20 being left conjoined to the medial section along a foldcrease line It. The side panel portions i2 and H are pierced by bottlereceiving apertures 22, the adjacent apertures being separated by apartition strip 24 which is foldable inwardly along crease lines It.Adjacent the lower ends, the end wall sections I! are provided withlocking slots 25 disposed to receive locking tongues 28 which are formedon the end flaps i I.

The blank being formed as above described,

adhesive may be applied to the stippled areas shown in Fig. 1, and thenthe lateral sections it and I! are folded inwardly onto adjacentportions of the parts to which they are connected, the lateral sectionsis thus becoming adhesively attached to portions of the medial handlesections it. As thus folded, the device has the form shown in Fig. 2.

panelsbecome attached to one another by means of the adhesive in thestippled areas.

This completes the fabrication of the device, it being new in the flatfolded or collapsed form illustrated in Fig. 3, in which form it may bestacked and packaged compactly for storage and shipment.

When it is desired to erect such a. carrier, the side panel portions areswung apart by swinging the bottom sections to apart from each otherinto coplanar relationship. As the side panels are swung apart, the endwall sections it are swung outwardly between them to positions wherethey attain approximately right angular relationship to the side panelportions i2 and H. The tuck flap sections H at the same time assumepositions where they extend inwardly between the side panels insubstantially right angular relationship to the end wall sections it.This brings the side panels and end wall sections to approximately I therelationship shown in Fig. 4. Thereupon the end flaps II are swungupwardly along fold creases b to positions where they engage the outersurfaces of the end wall sections, and then by pressing them and the endwall sections slightly inwardly, the latching tongues 26 are inserted inthe slots 25 so that they form a retentive interlock retaining the endflaps ii in upstanding position and the end wall sections IS inapproximately coplanar relationship and securing the side panel portionsi2 and id in upwardly converging angular relationship. The upstandingposition of the end flaps il also retains the bottom sections ii) incoplanar relationship. In Fig. 4 the device is illustrated in acondition wherein the end flap at the far end of the figure has beeninterlocked with the end wall sections bymeans of the locking tongues26, While the end flap II at the near end is in process oi being swungto its upstanding position.

The device as thus set up retains its form with very definite stability.Bottles of the size and form for which the device is designed may beintroduced bottoms first through the bottle receiving' apertures 22 topositions where they stand upright on the bottom, in which positionsthey are retained by the gripping engagement of the lower portions ofthe side panels against their lower ends. The inwardly extending tuckflaps i7 form separators between the bottles which are in oppositeapertures and the partition strips 24, which are swung inwardly on linesIt when the bottles are introduced, form separators between the bottleswhich are abreast of each other.

The modified form shown in Fig. 5 contains the characterizing featuresof that above described, but is designed for; the packagin of sixbottles After having been used for the packaging of v one load ofbottles, the carrier may be collapsed simply by drawing the end flaps.ii outwardly so as to disengage the locking tongues 26 from the slots25, and then pressing the end wall sections inwardly between the sidepanels and folding the bottom sections it against each other along themedial crease line a. The carrier may again be set up from thiscollapsed condition for return.

I claim:

1. A collapsible bottle carrier comprising sheet material formed andfolded to provide a 17908;)? tacle having a bottom with side panelsflexibly conjoined at their lower ends to. opposite side margins of thebottom, end flaps flexibly conjoined to opposite end margins of thebottom, and lateral flaps flexibly conjoined to lateral margins of theside panels, the adjacent lateral flap'o of opposite side panels beingflexibly connected to each other so as to fold into abutment with eachother between the side panels, the lateral flaps being foldable to andfrom positions where they extend angularly from the side panels to formend wall sections over end portions of the bottom, and the end flapsbeing foldable to and from positions where they extend upward at anangle from the bottom and abut lower portions of said end wall sectionsthereabove, each end him being provided with parts for interlocking withrespective abutting end wall sections to secure them in such abuttingrelationship and retain the end wall sections against swinging inwardlyand the end flaps against swinging outwardly, and the receptacle beingprovided at its upper end with a handle whereby it may be supportedpendulously.

' 2. A bottle carrier as specified in claim 1 and wherein the receptacleis formed of a unitary blank of sheet material.

3. A bottle carrier as specified in claim 1 and wherein the bottom has amedial fold crease parallel WIth ltS side margins and the side panelsare connected at their upper ends and are toldable together when thebottom is folded on its medial crease, the side panels being providedwith bottle-receiving apertures through which bottles may be inserted tostanding positions on the bottorn.

- 4. A collapsible bottle carrier comprising sheet material formed andfolded to provide a receptacle having a bottom and a pair of like sidepanels flexibly conjoined at their lower ends to respective oppositeside margins of the bottom, end flaps flexibly conjoined to opposite endmargins of the bottom, and lateral flaps flexibly conjoined to lateralmargins of the side panels. the bottom having a medial fold crease onwhich it maybe folded to swing the lower ends of the side panels towardeach other to collapse the assembled receptacle to flattened form, thelat eral flaps being foldable to and from positions where they extendangularly from the side panels to form end walls over end portions ofthe bottom and; the end flaps being ioidable to and from positionswherethey extend upwardly irom the bottom and abut outer surfaceportions of saidend walls thereabove, each end flap being provided withparts interlocking with respective abutting end wall sections to securethem in overlapping relationship whereby to hold the end walls againstswinging inwardly, there being a' connection between upper end portionsof the side panels and the receptacle being provided at its top with ahandle whereby it may be supported pendulously. v

5. .A bottle carrier as specified in claim 4 and wherein the end flapsare integrally conjoined to the bottom along the end margins of thelatter and when in their upwardly extending positions serve to hold thebottom against folding on its media] fold crease.

6. A bottle carrier as specified in claim 4 and wherein the end flapsare creased in alignment with the bottom fold crease to permit theirbeing folded when the bottom is folded, the said interlocking partsbeing disposed on both sides of the end flap fold creases and serving toresist flexion of the end'flaps thereon. v

7, A bottle carrier as specified in claim 4 and wherein the side panelsare provided with bottlereceiving apertures extending into proximitywith the end wall sections, and the end flaps form connections betweenthe lower portions of the end wall sections when said interlocking partsare enneed with them.

8. A bottle carrier as specified in claim 4 and wherein the lateralflaps are marked of! by oblique fold creases to form tuck sections nextto their outer margins and end wall sections next to the side panels,the tuck sections of adjacent lateral flaps resting in face abutmentwith each other when the end wall sections are in angular relationshipto the side panels and serving to stiffen theend wall sectionsvertically.

9. A blankfor a bottle carrier comprising a sheet of paper board shapedand creased to provide a bottom and opposite side panels flexiblyconjoined to opposite side margins of the bottom and havinglate'ralflaps flexibly conjoined to their lateral margins, medial handlesections conjoined to the outer ends of the side panels and lateralhandle sections conjoined to the opposite lateral margins of said medialhandle sections and each of width not exceeding one-half that of theconjoined medial section, said lateral flaps and lat eral handlesections being formed from sheet portions of like width beyond thelateral margins of the side panels;the blank being creased to definefold lines on which the lateral flaps may be swung to angularrelationship to the side panels and the lateral handle sections may befolded inwardly onto the medial handle sections, and the bottom beingprovided with a crease on which it may be folded to place the oppositeside walls in coinciding relationship.

10. A blank for a bottle carrier as specified in claim 9 and comprisingalso end flaps conjoined toend margins of the bottom along crease lineson which they are foldable to angular relationship with the bottom.

11. A bottle carrier formed from a blank as specified in claim 9 andwherein the blank is folded to place the medial handle sections incoinciding relationship with the lateral handle sections between themand the medial handle sections and lateral handle sections are fastenedtogether to form a multi-ply handle.

12. A bottle carrier formed from a blank as specified in claim 9 andwherein the blank is folded so that the medial handle sections are incoinciding relationship, said medial handle sections being fastenedtogether with the lateral v flaps are folded to angular relationship toform end'walls over end portions of the bottom, and wherein the blankcomprises end flaps conjoined to end margins of the bottom along foldlines on which said end flaps are folded angularly from the plane of thebottom into overlapping relationship with the lateral flaps.

' EDWIN L. ARNESON.

